Jurors are set to hear opening arguments in a five-year legal battle between Oracle and Hewlett Packard. H-P is alleging Oracle had a role in the decline of one of the company’s most lucrative products, and seeks US$3 billion in damages.
The case began in 2011, in response to an Oracle news release that cast doubt on the future of H-P’s flagship computers, now sold by HP Enterprise.
H-P alleged that Oracle, for years an important partner, helped drive a sales collapse because of its January 2010 purchase of Sun Microsystems, a deal that turned Oracle into an H-P competitor.
The trial follows hot on the heels of a jury verdict last week which found that Google’s use of Oracle’s Java software didn’t violate copyright law, a ruling Oracle has vowed to appeal.
